bonjour? merci?

Sorry I haven’t updated my blog in 2 weeks- its been getting a little stressful with classes and traveling and all. Let me think back…

The weeks have become pretty routine now- classes during the day, studying or walking around Florence at night. I still love taking hour walks around the city- and now that these classes I’m taking are beginning to set in, I really am learning everything about the history of Florence and its culture. During last weekend a few of my roommates went to Munich for Octoberfest- but I had a lame field trip with my history of food class. On Friday I had to go to a Tuscan farm and watch how they raise the cows, then hang their meat upside down for 30 days to dry it, and then sell proscuitto and chianini beef. It was kind of interesting, but I’m just not a farm girl! Lots of flies and poop. Anyways, even though I couldn’t go to Germany we still had a really relaxing and fun weekend in Florence. We finally climbed the Duomo, which is about 400 steps up but totally worth it. The views are incredible- and even better now that I know the city. From the top of the dome we saw where we lived, the Piazza Santa Maria Novella, the river and the Ponte Vecchio, Santa Croce, and all the major monuments we’re learning about. I was scared the last time I went with Mary, but this time the heights didn’t get to me. Overall another great experience! That night was fun too- one of our Italian friends was celebrating his birthday at a club near us and he invited us to come along. So 4 of us dressed up, went out and had a great night practicing our Italian with our friends…it’s always so funny because they attempt to speak English and us Italian and the meaning behind our words always ends up getting mixed up. Sunday was spent lying on the grass in front of Piazza Santa Maria Novella- my most favorite church- and getting homework and stuff done. The roommates came back and said Germany was amazing- I definitely want to visit Munich before I leave.

Anyways, next week was fun but fast…this is when I found out that loved Santa Maria Novella. It’s just another ancient church in Florence, built in the 13th century (I think!) but inside it is AMAZING. I was so overwhelmed by all the artwork. Basically every major Renaissance and Gothic artist has some type of work in there…and in the middle there is a huge fresco that is at least 30 feet high, and it shows the daily life of the Renaissance people (painted in part by a young apprentice at the time- Michelangelo) and I literally just stared at it for 30 minutes by myself. So cool!! I don’t understand how people draw so well in such a difficult space. Anyways, it’s definitely worth a visit if anyone ever visits Florence.

On Wednesday night we headed for the Florentine soccer game! I’m not even into sports but it was a really fun night. We all wore purple jerseys or shirts and walked to the stadium- everyone else in their purple shirts were cheering with us and walking along! When we got there is was an interesting experience…I think I’m a little spoiled from the Penn State football games and the thousands of screaming students, so for me, it was a smaller event. But it was great nonetheless, and I got a kick out of watching the crazy Florentine fans screaming “vofanculo!” to the other teams (It means f-you)

After that fast week we packed our bags and left for the French Riviera. Overall, it was an AMAZING weekend. Very relaxed, beautiful weather, sandy beaches, and FRENCH FOOD. We went with EuroAdventures, the group I’m interning with, so I got to go for free. (Saved 150 Euro there!) But the tour guides are so nice and really helpful- we ended up following their loose “itinerary” because they were instructive and showed us all the great sites. We got there Thursday night at 12:30 and stayed in a so-so hostel, but it was in the center of Nice, France. Friday we got up and took a 5 euro train to Monaco- one of the richest countries in the world. It was such a sight- EVERY car was either a Mercedes or a Rolls Royce, and the people were glamorous. We walked up to a castle and saw some great views of the town, then saw all the HUGE yachts parked in the bay. These yachts were ridiculously big: the biggest one was over 350 feet long! Most of them had a hot tub, a bar, a helicopter pad, and more crazy unnecessary things.

After that we walked up to another church and saw where Princess Grace Kelley was buried. I forget the entire story but I think she was an American movie star who fell in love with the Prince of Monaco, and then they married and she became royalty. Also, all of the pics from this weekend are on Facebook, just fyi!

That night, back in Nice, we headed down to the Old City for a French feast. Being in France was so nice, and it reminded me of Aunt Pauline and when I visited during spring break…its so funny how different it is from Italy. From the architecture of the buildings to the food to the friendliness of the people, everything is just…different. Not better or worse, but a nice change. I certainly felt baffled not knowing any French. It kinda made me realize how comfortable I’m getting speaking Italian! Anyway, that night we found a cute little spot and ate SO MUCH FOOD. (so much where I had a baad stomach ache that night in bed.) But at the time it was delicious, and really authentic “Nice” food- for starters, fish soup. We tried to ask what “fish soup” was, but the waitress just told us it was their specialty and to try it. So we did, and personally, I loved it. It was a thick dark broth, I think made out of all different types of seafood, and it was served with crusty bread (almost croutons) and a mustardy-looking condiment. The waitress told us to dunk the bread with “mustard” into the soup, so we did…and it was so good! Fishy and delicious. Kind of like French onion in the way that the bread got soggy and full of the soup, you know? Then the main course was a beef stew with tagliettelle pasta…again, amazing. The beef melted in our mouths and the pasta was delish. Then we all got a small desert of apple tarts and mousse (we all shared) and each was one tasty (in a French way) in their own way. I think the stomach ache was worth it!!

On Saturday we had a relaxing morning in Nice and then took the train to Cannes. I thought of Matt the whole time. It’s where they hold the film festival! It was so glamorous there, but I liked it because even though it had fancy stores and lavish people, it still gave a beachy-town feel. The beach had white sand (I haven’t been on a beach with actual sand since New Jersey) and it was great weather. I SUNBATHED TOPLESS. I had to do it! Me and one other roommate, Corey, just went for it, and it was actually really nice! Felt relaxing! We lounged at the beach all afternoon, then walked around Cannes and went into some of the cute stores, and then came back to Nice.

Since the previous night’s dinner had basically exploded in my stomach, I wanted something easy for that night…we found another cute restaurant, and Corey and I had wanted to try another authentic “Nice” dish- moules e frites. MUSSELS AND FRIES! Soooo good. Best mussels I’ve ever had hands down. The broth was made of white wine and garlic and herbs, and we both got heaping buckets full of mussels and we slurped each one down. Then we walked around and each got a nice cocktail before hittin the hay. The only perk of the crappy hostel was the late-night receptionist- he was real cute. We couldn’t even pronounce his name but each night we came we talked to him for like half an hour and learned all about Nice and his life! He studied English in college, so he liked to practice on us. It’s so fun meeting local people who are happy to talk to you! And who are cute!

Sunday was by far my favorite day. The 4 of us (me, Corey, Alison and Tiffany) just spent the entire day truly exploring Nice. We walked down every single street, walked up to the cliff overlooking the beach and the entire town (took some great pics) and had another good meal before coming home around 4 pm. It was a great day because it was so spontaneous and relaxing- we meandered into little shops and practiced our French every chance we got! Also, last bit on food, we had an amazing breakfast in the Old City. Chocolate bread. It was called “pan de cocao” or something but it was literally just chocolatey bread that was delicious. You can’t find pastries/breads like this in Florence!

Since getting back on sunday around 12 30 am, its been another stressful week already. Just finished another laundry load, had Indian food for dinner (I needed a break from pasta), and am already obsessively planning out this next weekend- PARIS. So excited! Oh, one last funny story…this morning for my food class we took an excursion to the Central Market, (basically my second home) and it was great because everywhere the teacher took us, the seller/butcher/vendor would already know me! They would say “ciao” to the teacher and then see me and the same thing. I was just laughing the whole morning..at the end my teacher was like, how come everyone knows you? It just felt good to feel like a local! I ended up telling the other students where the good deals were and everything (some of them had never to the market- which is something I don’t understand. Not to vent but I’ve met quite a few students who still haven’t don’t some basic things in Florence, like go the market…what the hell are they doing? I cant stand being locked up in my apartment for more than 30 mins..anyway, just annoying me lately)

And my food teacher also helped clarify my question about the curious sandwich I’d eaten 2 weeks early- we weren’t sure if it was pork, chicken, or some other type of meat ( it was called the Florentine special) but it was definitely TRIPE. PIG INTESTINES. I still think it was delicious.



A domain! Ciao amici e famiglia!